2007 could be called the year of the mobile operating system. Since Microsoft entered the scene around five years ago, the smartphone operating system industry has been fairly stable. Symbian, Linux, Research in Motion, and Windows Mobile make up the bulk of smartphone software, each to varying degrees of success in different regions.

But in 2007, Apple introduced the iPhone, which runs its own brand of software, and Google announced that next year its Android mobile operating system platform will come out. The entrance of two new operating systems from well-known brands shakes up the plans of some mobile operators, creates some headaches for end-users, presents bigger challenges for application developers, and indicates some fundamental changes in the mobile industry.

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